I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8901 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the designation 

of institutions of higher education as Centers of Excellence in Cannabis 

Research, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2024 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. THANEDAR, and Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

the designation of institutions of higher education as 

Centers of Excellence in Cannabis Research, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cannabis Research 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CANNABIS RESEARCH AT THE DEPARTMENT OF 

2 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. 

3 (a) NATIONAL CANNABIS RESEARCH AGENDA.—Part 

4 B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 284 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 409K. NATIONAL CANNABIS RESEARCH AGENDA. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of the Cannabis Research Act, the Di10 rector of NIH, in collaboration with the Director of the 

11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Commis12 sioner of Food and Drugs, and the Assistant Secretary 

13 for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall develop a na14 tional cannabis research agenda that addresses key ques15 tions and gaps in evidence, including with respect to each 

16 of the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) The safety and efficacy of cannabis in pro18 viding therapeutic benefits for certain priority dis19 eases or conditions, which may include epilepsy, mul20 tiple sclerosis-related spasticity, chemotherapy-in21 duced pain and discomfort, using cannabis as an al22 ternative to opioid analgesics for acute or chronic 

23 pain, sleep apnea, Tourette syndrome, anxiety, post24 traumatic stress disorder, and any other disease or 

25 condition determined to be appropriate and of im26 portance by the Director. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The effect of cannabis on at-risk popu2 lations, including children, older individuals, and 

3 pregnant or breast-feeding women. 

4 ‘‘(3) The nontherapeutic impacts of cannabis 

5 use in the short-term and long-term. 

6 ‘‘(4) The long-term effects of cannabis use, in7 cluding dose-response relationship and the connec8 tion between cannabis use and behavioral health. 

9 ‘‘(5) The clinically appropriate dosages and 

10 modes of delivery of cannabis. 

11 ‘‘(6) Public safety considerations related to can12 nabis, including— 

13 ‘‘(A) variation in the potency of cannabis 

14 products; 

15 ‘‘(B) youth access to and use of cannabis, 

16 including marketing, packaging, edible formula17 tions, and flavor options that target youth; 

18 ‘‘(C) risk factors for cannabis misuse; 

19 ‘‘(D) impaired driving related to cannabis 

20 use; 

21 ‘‘(E) accidental ingestion of cannabis; and 

22 ‘‘(F) relative risk of cannabis as compared 

23 to alcohol and tobacco. 

24 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘can25 nabis’ means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., 


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•HR 8901 IH

1 whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin ex2 tracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, 

3 manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of 

4 such plant, its seeds, or its resin.’’. 

5 (b) SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES.—Part A of title III 

6 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) 

7 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 310C. SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES ON CANNABIS USE. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

10 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre11 vention, in collaboration with the Assistant Secretary for 

12 Mental Health and Substance Use, the Administrator of 

13 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Di14 rector of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 

15 shall carry out surveillance activities to collect population16 wide data on cannabis use. 

17 ‘‘(b) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activities 

19 under this section, the Secretary may collect, as ap20 propriate, with respect to cannabis use— 

21 ‘‘(A) data on— 

22 ‘‘(i) health outcomes, including bio23 logical data; 

24 ‘‘(ii) health care utilization, which 

25 shall include hospitalizations and utilizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:01 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8901.IH H8901

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1 tion of emergency departments related to 

2 consumption of cannabis, including among 

3 youth; 

4 ‘‘(iii) demographic factors associated 

5 with cannabis use; 

6 ‘‘(iv) the variety of products and deliv7 ery modes used; and 

8 ‘‘(v) other relevant health information 

9 to improve the understanding of cannabis 

10 use in all age groups and sub-populations; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) data through public health surveil13 lance systems, surveys, questionnaires, and 

14 databases of health care records, including, as 

15 appropriate, the Behavioral Risk Factor Sur16 veillance System, the Youth Risk Behavioral 

17 Surveillance System, the Monitoring the Future 

18 health survey, the National Survey on Drug 

19 Use and Health, or the Healthcare Cost and 

20 Utilization Project (or any successor surveys). 

21 ‘‘(2) PRIVACY.—Any data collected under para22 graph (1) shall be collected in a manner that pro23 tects personal privacy to the extent, at a minimum, 

24 that is required under applicable Federal and State 

25 law. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘can2 nabis’ means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., 

3 whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin ex4 tracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, 

5 manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of 

6 such plant, its seeds, or its resin.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN CANNABIS RE8 SEARCH. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title IV of the Public 

10 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 et seq.), as amended 

11 by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 409L. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN CANNABIS RE14 SEARCH. 

15 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of NIH shall 

17 designate institutions of higher education as Centers 

18 of Excellence in Cannabis Research for the purpose 

19 of interdisciplinary research related to cannabis and 

20 other biomedical, behavioral, and social issues re21 lated to cannabis. 

22 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be designated as a 

23 Center of Excellence in Cannabis Research, an insti24 tution of higher education shall submit an applica25 tion to, and receive approval from, the Director of 


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1 NIH. Such an application shall be submitted in such 

2 manner and contain such information as the Direc3 tor of NIH may reasonably require. The Director of 

4 NIH may not approve such an application unless— 

5 ‘‘(A) the application contains or is sup6 ported by reasonable assurances that— 

7 ‘‘(i) the applicant has the experience, 

8 or capability— 

9 ‘‘(I) to conduct, through bio10 medical, behavioral, social, and related 

11 disciplines, long-term research on can12 nabis; and 

13 ‘‘(II) to provide coordination of 

14 such research among such disciplines; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the applicant has available to it 

16 sufficient personnel and facilities (includ17 ing laboratory, reference, storage, security, 

18 and data analysis facilities) to carry out 

19 the research plan required under subpara20 graph (B); 

21 ‘‘(iii) the applicant has the capacity to 

22 conduct academic courses and train stu23 dents and professionals on appropriate re24 search and knowledge of cannabis; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the applicant will secure State 

2 funds for research related to cannabis to 

3 complement any Federal funds for such re4 search under this section; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the application contains a detailed 5- 

6 year plan for research relating to cannabis. 

7 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In selecting institutions of 

8 higher education for designation as Centers of Ex9 cellence in Cannabis Research, the Director of NIH 

10 shall give priority to such institutions that have 

11 proven track records in medicinal cannabis research. 

12 ‘‘(4) GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION.—The Di13 rector of NIH shall, to the extent practicable, ensure 

14 geographic representation across the United States 

15 in designating institutions of higher education as 

16 Centers of Excellence in Cannabis Research. 

17 ‘‘(5) TERM OF DESIGNATION.—A designation 

18 under this section shall be for a period of 5 years, 

19 so long as the institution of higher education con20 tinues to meet the requirements of paragraph (2). 

21 An institution of higher education may reapply in 

22 accordance with the requirements of paragraph (2) 

23 for a subsequent designation under this section. 

24 ‘‘(b) CANNABIS RESEARCH.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) GRANTS OR COOPERATIVE AGREE2 MENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of NIH 

4 may make grants to, or enter into cooperative 

5 agreements with, 10 Centers that have been 

6 designated under this section to expand the cur7 rent and ongoing interdisciplinary research and 

8 clinical trials relating to cannabis research. 

9 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA10 TIONS.—To carry out this paragraph, there is 

11 authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for 

12 each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 

13 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH RESULTS.—The Director of 

14 NIH shall promptly disseminate research results 

15 under this subsection to relevant governmental, aca16 demic, and research entities. 

17 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘cannabis’ means all parts of the 

19 plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; 

20 the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part 

21 of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, 

22 salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such 

23 plant, its seeds, or its resin. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

2 has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 

3 the Higher Education Act of 1965.’’. 

4 (b) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 303 of 

5 the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823) is amend6 ed by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(m) REGISTRATION OF PRACTITIONERS AT CEN8 TERS OF EXCELLENCE IN CANNABIS RESEARCH.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

10 register under subsection (f) practitioners at Centers 

11 of Excellence in Cannabis Research designated 

12 under section 409L of the Public Health Service Act 

13 to conduct research with marijuana. 

14 ‘‘(2) TESTING OF CONSTITUENTS.—To the ex15 tent a Center of Excellence in Cannabis Research in 

16 a State tests marijuana products that are lawfully 

17 available for such testing in such State for 

18 cannabinoid and noncannabinoid constituents, no 

19 sanction under this title shall apply to such testing, 

20 including the acquisition of such products for such 

21 testing. 

22 ‘‘(3) USE OF MARIJUANA PRODUCTS UNDER

23 STATE LAW.—No sanction under this title shall 

24 apply to the acquisition or use of marijuana prod25 ucts for a clinical trial or other research to the exVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:01 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8901.IH H8901

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1 tent such clinical trial or other research is con2 ducted— 

3 ‘‘(A) to further the goals of the national 

4 cannabis research agenda under section 409K; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) at a Center of Excellence in Cannabis 

7 Research in a State using marijuana products 

8 that are lawfully available for such purpose 

9 under laws of the State. 

10 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

11 ‘Center of Excellence in Cannabis Research’ means 

12 a Center of Excellence in Cannabis Research for 

13 which a designation is in effect under section 

14 409L(a) of the Public Health Service Act.’’. 

Æ 


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